[Note: Since this is about supporting local businesses in their time of need, not tools, it’s worth mentioning that being on twitter isn’t a prerequisite for joining us, and neither is blogging or being on facebook, etc. OK?]

[note: an old thought, had many times before by countless other people, but the real story here is how marvelous technology is. how it’s levelled the playing field. and enabled someone like me, here, to have access to some of the brightest minds in whatever biz, wherever they are. to listen and learn. to converse. and their willingness to share, rather than hoard. all part of the aforesaid circular transaction. isn’t it great?]

e.g., a bunch of us are working towards the same common-good goals — albeit within different, but interconnected, building blocks, in some instances — why not do it together?

the sum is greater than its parts. etc.

there’s already a proven international model for this in the form of BALLE networks, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

whether it’s jennie, daniel, michelle, adam, jen, etc etc [insert the names of, like, 50 other people making it happen right now], i can’t tell you how many times i’ve had conversations with people interested in something like this.

a business alliance for a local living economy — an economy that sustains itself, our communities, and a healthy environment.

the time is right, no?

wherever these conversations lead, if we’re successful in pulling something together, no doubt local matters will play a major part. they’re doing inspired work.

on saturday, we were a bit late getting down to the grillmaster’s festival at the north market but we managed to catch part of michael’s presentation.

here he is slicing and dicing.

(jami says he looks like steven keaton, a high compliment…)

served up a beautiful salad with grilled pears and a nice vinaigrette that you can get inside the market at the greener grocer.

accessible and informative.

then we went inside to poke around a bit and found out about their urban CSA.

…weekly boxes of beautiful, tasty produce from various local growers who follow sustainable farming practices, including minimal or no use of chemical-based pesticides or herbicides….

Weekly food boxes will contain a bag of our house salad mix plus 5-7 different kinds of produce, with seasonal variation based on availability. Included in each weekly box will be information about the growers, their farming practices, and a delicious recipe for preparing the food.

As an extra incentive, The Greener Grocer will donate two food boxes for every ten paid boxes to the Clintonville Resource Center’s food pantry program.

the cost of a share for the 20-week program is $600 ($30 a week). you can pay in full, up front, or (like us), using a credit card as a guarantee, purchase a share using their payment plan.

$150.00 at the time when you submit your application

$150.00 by July 15th

$150.00 by August 15th

Final payment of $150.00 by September 15th

there are two sites where you can pick up your weekly food box:

Clintonville Resource Center

The Greener Grocer (curb side pick-up available between 4PM-6PM. Just call ahead and identify your vehicle!)

and memberships can be pro-rated, too, if you’re late getting in.

[note: the website has 6/24 as the start date, but all the material at the market said 6/30.]

been wanting to try something like this for a while, so it should be a great learning experience. plus it’s the perfect chance to support an organization that’s making things better.

take a quick spin around the site. i think we’ve only got, like, eight of the client profiles up for now, but we’ll be doing the rest soon. and hopefully adding a bunch more.

if we already work together and you know somebody who you think might fit the bill, get us in touch.

if you’re reading this and we haven’t met yet, we should.

and, as far as the do-something-worth-talking-about-part, if you follow me on twitter, you’ll see that i’m going to be riding around town (bike or scooter, haven’t decided) today, passing out 1,000 Buy Local stickers to businesses city-wide (or, as far as i can pedal/the vespa breaks down) as the first ingredient of a collaborative campaign.

so if you want to get in touch today, call my cell or send an email. i’ve got my handheld thingy.

if you would’ve told me six months ago that it’d take six months to get all the content to treefort for the website and that, in the end, it’d only be, like, six sentences, i would’ve said you’re nuts.

but it is what it is — no more.

and in this case, though what we say and how we say it is important, what we don’t say is just as important — if not more.

no hyperbole. just the truth. trusting that the right people will get it. and that if we create the right preconditions for something to happen, it might.

also, the presupposition that nobody cares. especially about a category like insurance. it’s liberating once you accept that.

the way i figure it, people are pretty smart. especially the people i like working with.

smart people doing interesting work.

so it’d be pretty stupid to try and convince people that our products are somehow better than everybody else’s, right?

or that, somehow, our level of customer service is — this is my favorite — “unprecedented,” as another local agency would have you believe.

no, i’d rather not waste your attention. i’d rather see if we can’t give people an altogether different reason for doing business with us than everybody else.

so: no advertising. no direct mail.

getting pummeled with messages? not by us.

don’t even have to do business with us to appreciate that.

instead, how about creating something that actually adds value?

something meaningful. something that might actually make a difference or make peoples’ lives easier. or change the world on our clients’ behalf.

so we decided to follow our passion and do something we’ve always wanted to do: a campaign to support and promote the local businesses that help set our city apart.

the first element is this sticker, which you’re going to see popping up all around town in the windows of your favorite, local independent businesses.

from there, we can do anything with this. but we can’t do it ourselves. have some ideas? want to help?

your participation is key if we’re going make this work and have a measurable impact.

if you’re a business owner or an engaged citizen looking to get involved, get in touch.

run a business and need a sticker? need a sticker to give to your favorite business?

i’ve got 1,000, and as soon as treefort finishes building the website, they’re going up. after that, we’ll probably have a little ho-down for anybody who’s interested in playing a part.